Using Islet Cell Transplantation

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic or lifelong disease that is caused by high level of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Like any other disease, type 1 diabetes has symptoms. Symptoms include: being very thirsty, feeling hungry, fatigued, blurry eyesight, losing feeling in feet, lost of weight without trying, and frequent urination. Type 1 diabetes can occur in any age range, from children to young adults. Another name for type 1 diabetes is Juvenile Diabetes because it is more likely to strike a person in their childhood rather than their adult years. Type 1 diabetes is the most serious form of diabetes; however it is the least common. The reason for type 1 diabetes is usually the failure of the pancreas, which is caused by autoimmune malfunction. Autoimmunity means when the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells or tissues inside the body. The reason for the attacking is unknown, however it does occur. When people have type 1 diabetes, their insulin producing pancreatic cell is attacked due to the autoimmune malfunction. Because of the malfunction, the pancreas is attacked until it is left damage and cannot produce any more insulin. Insulin is a hormone that has an effect on metabolism.

Diabetes can date back to the Egyptians in 1500 B.C. The term "diabetes" was coined by Arateus of Cappodocia. In 1675, Thomas Willis of Britain coined the term "mellitus" which mean honey sweet. Willis coined this word when he rediscovered the sweetness of urine and blood of patients. This practice began in ancient India. The in 1776, Dobson of Britain as well came to the confirmed that the presence of excess sugar in urine and blood was the leading factor in the sweetness. In 1857, a miracle happened in the world of diabetes. Claude Bernard of France discovered the role of liver in glycogenesis, and that diabetes is due to an excess amount of sugar production that goes on in the body.

In 1889, it was discovered that diabetes could occur in animals as well as humans if the pancreas is remove from the body. To be more specific, if accidents including car crash or a disease lead to the removal of a pancreas, diabetes can occur. Other factors that can lead to having type 1 diabetes are pancreas problems, pancreatitis, and cystic fibrosis. Pancreatitis is a widespread injury and dysfunction of the pancreas which is usually caused by excessive smoking and drinking. Diabetes is a result of this because pancreatitis kills insulin producing cells. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic condition that causes the body to produce excessive, thick, sticky, mucus. This mucus scars the pancreas and prevents it from making enough insulin.

In 1921, the discovery of insulin could control diabetes came to light. This came about in Ontario, Canada where a surgeon, Frederick Banting, and his assistant Charles Best, kept a dog that had a severe case of diabetes alive for 70 days. Banting and Best did this by using an extract that could have possibly been insulin. Banting and Best along with assistance from Dr. Collip and Dr. Macleod administered an improved extract of insulin to a young boy named Leonard Thompson, who was dying of a bad case of diabetes. In just 24 hours, Thompson's dangerously